


By the Way, DanPlan Oneshots

by just_bs_writing_here



Category: DanPlan, Danplan (Web Series), youtube - Fandom
Genre: Anesthesia, Cooking, Domestic Fluff, Fluff, Ice Skating, Nightmares, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Road Trips, Sick Character, Sickfic, Sleep Deprivation, Whump, focusing on the three's friendship, its mostly just fluff, literally just writing whatever i feel like, oneshots, wisdom teeth removal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-21
Updated: 2019-07-06
Packaged: 2019-11-26 20:40:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 10,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18185480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_bs_writing_here/pseuds/just_bs_writing_here
Summary: Just a collection of one-shots and other little drabbles in an AU where the three of them are living together and just generally being their goofy selves. Requests are always appreciated, even if I don’t get to them all.





	1. Wisdom Teeth

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic on ao3 let's go. Anyways, if you're going to request a one-shot, I just ask you try and stray away from ships so that people who don't enjoy such-and-such ship can still enjoy the work.

In all their time of knowing each other, none of the three had even thought to ask about the others’ dental procedure. It just wasn't something that was asked or told, and definitely not something that came up in normal conversation from time to time. The occasional-- ‘did you have braces in middle school’ or-- ‘how old were you when you finally lost all your baby teeth’ perhaps, but nothing about this. So when Hosuh announced to the other two that he’d have to have his wisdom teeth removed, Stephen and Daniel were more than happy to assure him they’d help out. 

Due to Stephen having to work, Daniel agreed to go with Hosuh, drive him home and make sure he didn’t do anything stupid for half an hour until Stephen came back and would join Daniel in his efforts. Neither, of course, mentioned the fact that a majority of this would be filmed for their enjoyment and posterity.

“Thanks for agreeing to come with me Dan, I was kind of nervous, but this makes me feel a lot better,” Hosuh said as he and Daniel made their way to the dentist.

“It’s no problem,” Daniel replied. “No problem at all.” 

Daniel pulled into a parking space and the two got out and made their way into the building. They were greeted by a cheerful woman and invited to sit in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs as they were informed the oral surgeon would be ready for Hosuh in a few minutes. 

So they sat, waiting in near-silence, the ticking of the wall clock the only sound besides the tap of the keyboard that the cheerful woman was using and the occasional whirring from some  
hygienist's machines closely out of sight. 

Hosuh turned to Dan, “do you think it will hurt?’

“Nah,” he said, “you won’t even feel a thing, I’m sure.”

Hosuh opened his mouth to reply but was interrupted by a man, calling his name and asking him to follow. With a reassuring clap on the shoulder from Dan, he went with the oral surgeon to get the teeth taken out.

\--------

“So you’re not gonna want to let him have any solid foods for a while. In around thirty minutes you can take out the gauze and try some softer foods. Just stay away from straw and things that are too hot.”

Daniel nodded along to the nurse’s words, trying to pretend he was paying attention and not watching Hosuh who was looking dazedly around the room and periodically touching his bottom lip. His cheeks were swollen and he was absentmindedly holding an ice pack to his face. Another few minutes of information and Daniel was supporting a staggering Hosuh, leading him to the car even after he’d insisted he could do it himself.

“Daniel noooo-- I ah, no I can walk really good.” He let out a laugh that almost sounded confused. “Yeah, I’m really good.”

“I’m sure,” Daniel answered, guiding the other into the seat of the car and buckling him in. Daniel was about to close the car door when Hosuh grabbed onto his arm frantically with a pleading look.

“You’re gonna leave me? Where’re you going?”

“No, no” Daniel was trying to hold back his laughter, “I need to get in the seat so I can drive.” 

“You’re driving away?!” Hosuh’s lazy grip now sporting both arms, the ice pack being forgotten in his lap. Daniel couldn’t hold back his laughter at this point, he had to recollect himself before answering.

“Hosuh I’m driving you, remember? You can’t drive right now.”

“Is it b’cause they took all the wisdom out?” Another laugh from Daniel. “Are they gonna give it back?”

“All right, let me get in the car then I’ll answer your questions, okay?” Hosuh let go of Daniel’s arm and gave a little nod, bringing the ice back to his face. Daniel closed the door and made sure to pull out the camera he brought and began recording before getting in the driver’s seat. “Say hi to the camera, Hosuh!”

“Hiiiii-- we’re recording today? I thought that we’re taking a break today.” 

“It’s, uh,” Daniel started, trying to come up with something, “it’s for Stephen? Since he’s not here.” Hosuh promptly took the camera from Daniel and pointed it towards his puffy face.

“Hi, Stephen! Daniel brought the camera so that you can be here while you’re not here,” and then he began to tear up, “isn’t that sooo-- isn’t Dan thoughtful? He, he brought the camera--” Hosuh turned to Daniel, who had begun driving. “Dan you’re so thoughtful and kind a-and-- and you.” He nearly sobbing at this point.

“Hey-- hey Hosuh calm down. It’s okay.” Daniel was laughing again-- trying his best not to but laughing nonetheless. “Do you want me to stop and get you a milkshake?”

Hosuh tried to quiet his crying as he set the ice down again. “Stop for a milkshake?”

“Yeah, what kind do you want?”

This sent him into tears again as he stuttered out some slurred apologies to Stephen for crying so much in the video. “It’s just-- Daniel is so good.” He put an emphasis on his words by placing his hand on Daniel’s arm. Dan, you-- you’re a, no, I r’spect you so much and I love you a lot, and you too Stephen, I wish you’re here right now. B’cause I love you both lots and-- and I think you deserve the world, no, more than the world. At least two. Yeah, two worlds-- you guys deserve them.”

Daniel couldn’t help his instinctive “Aww, Hosuh! What the fudge, man!” and embarrassed laughter.

“Nooooo, I mean it, Daniel, I swear I do. I’m so luc-- I’m so lucky to know you ‘nd Stephen.”

“Ah, gosh, being such a softie, Hosuh,” Daniel laughed again, “I just need to know what kind of milkshake you want.”

\--------

With straws out of the question, eating the milkshake was proving to be a challenge once the two boys had made it home (with little incident due to Hosuh deciding to take a short nap on the way back). After having nearly fallen on the way up to the kitchen, Hosuh was sat down at the kitchen table with a spoon and the cup, making a mess as Daniel continued to film.

“So, show the camera what you got there, Hosuh,” Daniel prompted.

Hosuh looked over to the camera, groggy from sleep and still higher than a kite, hands covered in vanilla milkshake. “Ice creaaaaaam,” he said, a tired grin gracing his swollen face. “D’you want some Daniel?”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“No, here-- have some.” Hosuh’s movements were uncoordinated as he tried to get some of it on the spoon for Daniel. “Here, open your mouth, Daniel.” Most of the ice cream made it onto the floor, but Hosuh didn’t seem to notice and was happy with the little bit he was able to give to Daniel who resolved to clean it later.

“Hey, once you finish that do you want to watch a movie?” Daniel asked.

Hosuh gasped as if the thought had never even occurred to him. “Yeeeaaaaah, w’should watch a Disney movie-- I like Disney movies.”

Daniel couldn’t help but laugh yet again, watching Hosuh as he tried to get some more of the milkshake on the spoon for himself. “Yeah? I like them too, we’ll have to put the gauze back in once you’re done, though.”

“The bloody things?” He asked, the little bit of ice cream he’d managed to get on the spoon falling back into the cup.

“Well, we’ll get you clean ones, but yeah. Do you need help there?” Hosuh merely nodded and handed the spoon to Daniel.

\--------

Stephen had been looking forward to this all day. Once he’d heard that Hosuh would be getting his wisdom teeth removed, he couldn’t wait for the moment he could mess around with his drugged up friend. Walking into the house to the sound of Disney’s Moana, Stephen could see Hosuh and Daniel on the couch, Hosuh leaning heavily on Daniel like he wouldn’t keep himself upright any other way.

“Guess who’s back?” Stephen called to them as he removed his shoes and put them by the door.

Hosuh gasped as he had done earlier as Daniel called a casual greeting back, and did his best getting up from the couch. “Steeephen hiiiii, we made a video and you were gone.” Hosuh made his way over to the other and draped himself over him. It may have supposed to have been a hug, but was so inelegant it was hard to tell. “I missed you so much Stephen, you ‘nd Daniel are my favorite.”

“So I guess I don’t have to ask how the removal surgery went,” Stephen joked, returning the awkward hug (more or less just holding Hosuh up so he didn’t fall over).

“They took them all away and Daniel says th’we can't have the teeth back, but that’s okay b’cause they were bad,” Hosuh stated.

“That right?” He replied.

“Yeah,” Hosuh returned, “y’should come to watch the movie with us.” Stephen agreed and led Hosuh back over to where Daniel still sat and the three of them continued the movie together. There was an odd comment from Hosuh every few minutes, but soon it dissolved into slurred mumbling until he eventually fell asleep. 

Daniel made sure to show Stephen the footage of Hosuh talking about how much he loved the two of them while he slept. Stephen talked about using the video for blackmail, even joked about posting it as Hosuh’s face reveal on their youtube channel. But if Stephen found it any as adorable as Daniel did, well, he’d just keep that to himself.


	2. Couldn't Sleep

Stephen turned over for what felt like the tenth time in the last minute or two, eyeing the digital clock that screamed 2:46 at him in bright red. It was nearly three in the morning, and Stephen just wanted some sleep. Sitting up again, as he’d periodically done for the past few hours, he decided to get out of bed and head into the kitchen. Maybe he’d eat something small and try to get back to sleep then. 

He scoured through the cabinets and fridge and saw nothing that looked appealing; they really needed to go shopping sometime soon. Stephen let out a tired sigh and grabbed a bottle of water, hoping to occupy himself with that-- knowing he was just going to eat out of boredom anyway. He wandered aimlessly around the kitchen as he drank, knowing he wouldn’t get much sleep at this rate. 

Stephen eventually made his way to Daniel’s room and peeked in, wondering if he was awake too. Daniel slept peacefully, snoring lightly as he did. Stephen closed the door quietly, so as not to disturb Daniel and wandered over to Hosuh’s room, poking his head in in the same manner. 

Hosuh-- who was still up, animating at his desk-- looked up at the sound of the squeaky door and greeted Stephen. “What are you doing up so late?” He glanced at his own clock as if just noticing what time it was. “It's nearly three, Stephen.”

“Yeah, I know. Couldn’t sleep.”

“Oh, well I was about to wrap this up if you want to do something,” Hosuh offered.

“You want to go to the grocery store? I think Walmart is still open-- I’m bored and we need to go shopping anyways.”

“Yeah, sure.” Hosuh saved the progress he’d made on their video and got up from his desk, stretching for the first time in who knows how long. “We can go now if you’re ready,” he said.

“Right,” Stephen looked down at himself and the pajamas he was wearing, “let me just change first.”

\--------

“Get in the cart,” Stephen said for the second time. Stephen was pushing the shopping cart into the store, trying to get the other to get into it.

“I’m not getting in it-- you get in the cart!”

“All right,” Stephen began to climb into the basket of the cart himself, both of them laughing as he did.

“No, what?! Stephen, I was joking,” he laughed again, “what the heck-- don’t actually!”

“It’s too late,” Stephen replied, swinging his other leg into the cart, “you’ve gotta push it, now.” 

Hosuh had to hold onto the handle of the shopping cart to keep from doubling over in laughter. Taking a few moments to calm down as best as he could, Hosuh began pushing the cart further into the store, still giggling at the thought of the sight; an adult pushing another in a shopping cart in a deserted Walmart at three in the morning. Any thought of wanting to sleep was primarily out of both minds as Stephen commanded Hosuh go faster. He did go faster-- as much as he could without running into the displays or tipping the cart over while turning. Their loud, uncontrollable laughter seemed to echo a lot more throughout the empty store as they made their way toward the food aisles. 

They slowed to a stop when they finally made it to the aisle with snacks and chips, per Stephen’s request, that they get Pringles.

“There, at the top,” Stephen said, pointing to the shelf from in the basket of the cart, “extra hot chilie and lime.”

“That sounds gross,” Hosuh replied, grabbing them for Stephen anyway, “for a chip flavor, it’s kinda weird.”

“You’re just upset you can’t handle anything spicy,” Stephen deadpanned. 

“That is not true!”

“All right then,” Stephen opened the can of chips and peeled back the plastic lid (ignoring the protests from Hosuh’s insisting that he can’t do that) and held them out to him. “Here try one.”

“Stephen,” Hosuh was near-scolding, and trying not to laugh as he did, “you can’t just open things and eat it, we have to pay first. You’re gonna get us kicked out, we still need to be able to shop here, you do know?”

“It’s fine-- we’ll pay for them up front, don’t worry. Besides, you’re not getting out of trying these,” Stephen returned, holding them out again. 

Hosuh looked up and down the aisle, checking for any workers before turning back to Stephen. “Fine.” He hesitantly took one from Stephen and put it in his mouth, regretting it as soon as he began to cough and his eyes watered. “It’s-- not good,” he reported between coughs and Stephen’s near-maniacal laughter. “That reminds me--” he coughed into his arm again, “we need milk at home.”

“Oh, buy extra,” Stephen said, eating from the open can of chips, “we could make cookies or something.” 

Hosuh let out a little gasp of excitement, “that’s such a good idea, Stephen!” 

“All of Stephen’s ideas are good ones,” he replied, earning a chuckle from Hosuh.

So they ran around the empty Walmart, grabbing groceries and ingredients for cookies (Hosuh insisted that boxed mix and premade cookie dough was cheating), spending way too much time choosing on a frosting color, discussing the validity of sprinkles, and debating over cookie cutters-- which were ruled as ‘too informal’ for the both of them. Eventually, they made their purchases without Stephen getting them kicked out of the store-- though a worker that had been cleaning in one of the aisles informed them that only children were supposed to sit in the shopping carts-- and made their way back home. 

\--------

Hosuh was trying to quiet Stephen as the two entered the door, reminding him of their other sleeping friend.

“You’re going to wake Dan,” he said quietly.

“It’s fine Hosuh,” Stephen reassured, quieting his own voice as he set down the bags of groceries on the counter, “even if he does wake up, we’ve got a lot of editing to do on the audio for our Hunger Games video, anyway.”

“Yeah, I’ve almost finished the animation for the Jurassic Park one. I never want to draw another dinosaur,” he joked, Stephen laughing along. They began to put the groceries away, leaving out the things needed for the cookies.

Once all the groceries had been put in their proper places, Hosuh took out one of the bowls and a measuring cup from the cabinet and asked Stephen to preheat the oven. 

“All right,” he said, setting it to 350, “what now?”

“Do you want to mix-- it’s the most violent job,” Hosuh joked, only for Stephen to shush his laughter.

“Okay, yeah sure. I’ll mix stuff, then.” Stephen went on to mix the ingredients far more aggressively than necessary and doing so every time Hosuh added anything to the bowel. 

Hushed laughter was shared as they goofed around. Stephen at one point covered Hosuh’s face in flour and they were sure that they’d wake Daniel with how loud they were being. Hosuh tried to keep Stephen from eating the raw cookie dough because-- “Salmonella, Stephen! There’s eggs in that!”

“Salmonella is just a myth.”

“No, it isn’t!”-- but a small amount couldn’t really hurt, Stephen was convinced. 

Stephen made sure to shape a few cookies as small dicks, and one as a knife, while Hosuh stuck to regular circle-shaped cookies and finding amusement in Stephen’s antics. When the oven beeped-- another moment the two couldn’t believe Daniel had slept through-- the cookies were slid into the oven and the two took to cleaning the mess and prepping for decorating them.

Decorating was a whole mess on its own; both had been too eager to let the cookies cool all the way, so the frosting melted. As revenge from the flour earlier, Hosuh smeared some of the melted frosting onto Stephen’s cheek.

“Hosuh!” Stephen exclaimed, only to be shushed by a giggling Hosuh. Stephen retaliated, putting frosting on Hosuh’s face. They went back and forth, attacking each other with the frosting, ultimately forgetting that they were supposed to be quiet. That is until another voice rang out in the kitchen.

“What are you guys doing?”

Stephen and Hosuh looked over to the source of the voice, seeing a tired-looking Daniel rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. The two felt a lot like children getting caught doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing, covered in frosting and barely keeping straight faces.

“Making cookies,” Stephen said.

“Yeah,” Hosuh chimed in, “do you want some Daniel? They’re still warm.”

“Why are you making cookies at,” he turned to look at the oven clock, “four thirty?”

And “why not,” seemed to be a good enough answer for him. After cleaning themselves up, Stephen and Hosuh joined Daniel at the table. Daniel looked at the cookies that Stephen had shaped, unimpressed. 

“Really, Stephen?” He asked, trying not to let himself laugh at his own immaturity. 

“What? How dare you Daniel-- why do you immediately assume I did those?” Stephen said.

“It’s just like yours,” he said, earning a loud laugh from Hosuh. “I mean, these--” he held one of them up, “these have got to be life-sized!” At this point, all three of them were laughing. 

“That’s so mean, Dan,” Hosuh laughed.

Any reasonable person would have been asleep at this time of day, but the three seemed content with their set up-- laughing at nothing and sharing dick-shaped cookies at ungodly hours of the morning. It was stupid, and they’d likely regret it when they had to be productive later that same day, but for the moment, they wouldn’t really have it any other way.


	3. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It went from 45°F to 70°F in one day and it's supposed to snow in two days, so everyone is a little under the weather where I am right now. Why's the weather so fickle this time of year?

It was easily, irrefutably, and horribly undeniable. Daniel was-- beyond a shadow of a doubt-- sick. How long he’d been sick he had no idea. All he knew was that his head hurt, his stomach hurt, and it was way too hot in his room. 

Too hot to sleep, too hot to think, too hot to get up for water-- something his dry throat would greatly appreciate. Water sounded so good at that moment, cold water. Why was it so hot in there?

Daniel lazily kicked the blanket off of himself and onto the floor, making no move to do anything else. He stared up at the ceiling, blinking slowly, still wishing it weren’t so hot and that someone would bring him a bottle of water. As if his prayers had been answered, Daniel could hear the faint squeaking of his door being opened.

“Danieeeeel?” It was Stephen, “Hey Dan, are you up yet?” Daniel merely let out a pathetic moan, hoping that would relay the fact that he was sick, it was hot, and he was thirsty. The door creaked open the rest of the way.

“What?” Nope, he’d have to vocalize his thoughts then. “It’s almost ten Dan, what’re you still doing in bed, anyway?”

Daniel had to take a moment to blink away the splitting headache enough to speak. “It’s too hot.” His voice cracked halfway through, sounding thick and phlegmy. “It’s hot,” he tried again after clearing his throat. He still sounded awful. 

Stephen let himself into the room and came over to the bed. “You sound like crap,” he informed, “absolutely terrible. You sick or something?” Daniel nodded in response, looking for sympathy in the other’s eyes. 

“Oh,” he seemed slightly surprised like maybe he had expected Daniel to say no and get out of bed finally, “well, Hosuh made breakfast for us before he left, if you want some.” 

“Water?” 

“Right, sure,” Stephen said, noticing the way Daniel’s pale features lit up at the simple yes. “Do you need uh…” he drifted off, not really used to being the one to be taking care of a sick friend. That was Hosuh’s job, it was just in his nature to be that way, Stephen supposed. But with him off helping Pau and Jamie with an animation, it was up to Stephen. “...you need help getting up?” 

“No, thanks.” Daniel stared up at the ceiling for another few moments before slowly sitting up and getting himself off the bed, his shirt clinging to his sweaty back when a wave of dizzying nausea hit him and he grabbed on to the closest thing for support-- Stephen’s arm.

“Whoa, Dan careful,” he said, steadying his friend. “You good?” Daniel gave a weak nod and the two made their way into the kitchen. Daniel promptly sat himself down at the nearest chair and happily accepted the bottle of water from Stephen, downing it quickly. 

“Are you hungry?” Stephen tried, gesturing to the food, “you probably should eat something.” Some coaxing later (and the threat of no medicine), Daniel agreed to a small plate of food. He felt queasy and really not in the mood to each much, but if anything was going to get him to eat, it was the promise of some meds for his throbbing head. More than once he had to put the fork aside and let out a few raspy coughs before he could go back to forcing the small breakfast down. 

“Stephen, I think I’m gonna--” Daniel cut himself off, bringing back up the food he’d eaten and the bottle of water. He turned away from the table, getting most of the sick on himself and the floor. “...Sorry.”

Stephen couldn’t help but look away. For someone that talked about murder and blood so often, he had a surprisingly weak stomach for things like this. “You’re good, it’s fine.” He glanced back over, “why don’t you go change? And clean yourself, maybe?”

Daniel let out a few weak-sounding gags before responding. “Yeah.”

While he did that, Stephen began cleaning up the mess the best he could. It was definitely gross-- disgusting-- Stephen amended and he would much rather be doing most anything else. A few times he did have to step away for a few moments so as not to get sick himself at the sight-- at the smell. But eventually, he was proud that he did have it all pretty much cleaned up.

Stephen left the now-clean kitchen to check on Daniel, who hadn’t come back. Poking his head into Daniel’s room, it was clear that he was not in there. There was a small moment of panic before Stephen realized Daniel was probably in the bathroom, washing up; his assumption confirmed at the noise coming from the bathroom door that was slightly ajar.

“Daniel?” He called, hearing another gag from in the room. He got nothing but a few coughs as a response. “Dan, I’m coming in,” he warned, pushing the door open slowly. 

Daniel had draped himself pathetically over the throne, still in his sick-stained clothes, bringing up anything that had been left from his breakfast. He looked over to Stephen and moaned miserably, “it’s too hot.” 

“All right, “ Stephen said decidedly, “wash your face, I’m taking your temperature.” Stephen rummaged through the medicine cabinet, pulling out their thermometer and cleaning it off as he waited for Daniel to finished rinsing off his face. “Here, put this under your tongue. I’ll go get you some clean clothes.” 

Daniel did as he was told and Stephen left the bathroom, grabbing some clean clothes out of Daniel’s room when he heard a distressed call from his friend. “Stephen! Stephen come here!” Mild panic struck him again, as he rushed back to the bathroom.

“What, what is it? What’s wrong?” 

Daniel was looking at the thermometer that he had taken out of his mouth worriedly, reading the number over very carefully. “I’m pregnant with 103.4 babies.” Stephen wanted to keep a straight face, for his friend’s sake-- he really did. But he was caught so off guard by the statement, he burst out laughing. 

“Dan,” he said, pausing for another fit of laughter, “Dan, that’s a thermometer.” Stephen doubled over-- still in hysterics-- only keeping himself off the floor by holding onto the countertop. Every time he thought he was done laughing, he took one look at Daniel’s incredulous expression and broke down again. “It’s not-- that isn’t--” another laugh “--you’re just sick Dan. You should change and get some rest.” Stephen had mostly contained himself to giggling. “I’ll get some meds for you.”

Taking the clean clothes, Daniel headed to his room to change as Stephen went back to the medicine cabinet for acetaminophen and a rag to run under some cold water. He would definitely cuss himself out later for not getting some kind of recording of what Daniel had said. Just a moment to live out in infamy, he supposed.

He brought the items to Daniel’s room-- after stopping in the kitchen to get another bottle of water for him-- knocking softly on the door and peeking in to make sure the other was decent before entering.

“Here,” Stephen offered, holding out the acetaminophen and water, waiting for him to swallow the little pill, and take a few small sips of the water before he instructed him to lay back down. “Now get some rest, Dan,” he said, placing the cool cloth on Daniel’s forehead, to which Daniel hummed gratefully.

Stephen got up to leave the room when Daniel called his name again.

“What is it?” He asked

“Stay ‘til I fall asleep?”

“Uh…” he looked over at Daniel; his expression was hazy and eyes glassy and he looked like a child that didn’t want to be left alone. “Yeah, sure.” Daniel mumbled something else-- maybe a thank you-- but it was lost to the fever. 

“Night, Dan.”


	4. Ice Skating

Daniel had always been a bit impulsive. Once he’d gotten an idea in his head-- no matter how spur of the moment or odd-- Daniel usually found a way to make it happen. Their youtube channel had been a bit of impulse, and his face reveal was definitely something of a bored impulse. So when Stephen and Hosuh had made off-handed comments about never having been ice skating before, Daniel was determined to take them.

Did it matter that it was the middle of spring? No. Did it matter that the closest indoor skating rink was a two-hour drive away? No. Did it matter that Daniel had done this as a surprise for the other two and Stephen wouldn’t stop asking where they were going? Nope. He was going to take them ice skating and they were going to have fun.

“Oh my-- Dan I swear, just tell us where we’re going,” Stephen said for the fifth time.

“I already said,” Daniel replied, “it is a surprise. That means-- Stephen-- that I’m not telling you.”

Stephen cussed under his breath, eliciting some laughter from Hosuh. 

“Oh, don’t laugh, you know you’re curious too,” Stephen said pointing an accusatory finger at Hosuh.

“Of course I am, but Dan isn’t going to tell us.”

“That’s right,” Daniel said, adding playfully: “so stop asking, Stephen.”

“Fine, fine.”

The rest of the ride went without too much incident; once Daniel had dubbed Stephen the car’s dj and he was able to blast disney music from the speakers, that is. The remainder of their two hours became an impromptu Disney sing-along in which the three of them knew most of the words, but forgot enough of them to still end up laughing at each other. 

Daniel did threaten to “--turn this car around if you ask where we’re going one more time, Stephen, I swear.” But that aside, it was more tame a ride than some trips they’d been on, and they had made it to the parking lot of the skating rink in one piece. 

“We’re here!” Daniel announced, pulling into a space and parking. He pulled the key out of the ignition and the music went quiet. 

“An ice skating place?” Stephen guessed, looking at the sign of the building.

“Yeah! I know you guys haven’t been, so I found some coupons online so we could go.”

“That’s so nice, Dan,” Hosuh chimed in as the three got out of the car, “you didn’t have to do that.”

Daniel shrugged, “I thought it would be fun to go ice skating.”

Stephen nudged Hosuh, adding, “Dan just wants to see us fall, that’s all.”

“Maybe this is a part of some prank,” he responded, the two laughing at their speculations. They were making their way up to the building and inside. 

Daniel threw up his hands in playful disbelief. “What!” He exclaimed, “I can’t just do something nice for you!?”

Stephen turned back to Daniel, putting on his best scared and surprised face. “Who are you and what have you done with Dan?”

Daniel’s only response-- a smile and a “screw you.”

\--------

Getting the skates and lacing them on wasn’t too difficult. And on the way into the room with the actual rink, Stephen joked that Daniel should grab one of those little kid’s walkers that kept toddlers from falling on their faces. Another “screw you,” from Daniel and they were making their way onto the ice. Daniel was steady-- albeit slow-- and enjoyed watching as Housh clung to the wall of the rink for support and Stephen held his arms out in front of him to keep from losing his balance.

“You need help there?” Daniel laughed, grabbing onto Stephen’s arm, “I can just pull you around ‘til you get the hang of it.”

“No, I’m not going to look stupid alone,” Stephen replied, leaning and pulling Hosuh away from the wall and toward them, earning a small, surprised yelp. “Come here, Hosuh’s coming with, too.”

“That’s fine,” Daniel said, starting off around the rink, Stephen holding onto Daniel, and Hosuh to Stephen. 

They skated like that-- in their small line-- for a good while, but after mimicking Daniel’s movements and practicing staying upright on the ice, Stephen thought he would be good to go off on his own. And he did, without thinking to tell Daniel or Hosuh first.

Daniel immediately assumed that Stephen had fallen again (which he had done at least four times-- even with Daniel helping-- already). Hosuh, however, knew exactly what Stephen was doing.

“No, Stephen!” He tightened his grip around his friend as if holding on for dear life, “be careful, please don’t kill us!” Daniel, looking back at the two, laughed.

“Getting confident there huh, Stephen?” He slowed and waited for Stephen and Hosuh to slide over by him, “would be a shame if you wiped out.”

“You better not,” Stephen warned.

“No, no,” Daniel replied, clearly not meaning it, “I’m not gonna do anything. You know, just saying. It’d be a shame, that’s all.”

“Dan, I swear- -“ but he was already on the ground at that point, dragging Hosuh down with him. “JUDAS!” He called at Daniel. But Daniel paid the comment little mind; he was busy laughing hysterically watching the two try to untangle themselves and stand without falling all over again.

“Dan, please,” Hosuh laughed from the floor, “help.” 

Composing himself, Daniel came over and held out his arm, Hosuh gladly took it, letting Daniel help him up and steadying himself against him. Stephen insisted he didn’t need help, slipped again, struggled a moment, and finally got himself upright.

“Why don’t we have a race?” Stephen said, feeling more sure of himself once he’d gotten up.

“All right,” Daniel agreed.

Hosuh clung to Daniel-- the only thing keeping him from falling again-- with slight fear in his voice. “Oh, no.”


	5. Road Trip

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I got this one done pretty quickly, and it came out a bit longer than anticipated, sorry about that ahah. Anyway, the hotel in this chapter is based off a place I stayed in for about a week.

A road trip had seemed like a good idea about twelve hours ago. The three had wanted to go see some of the national parks in Utah together-- just a fun little trip for them to take a break and maybe get some funny vlog material for Green Apples. But things were never really so simple.

It was nearly four in the morning, and all three of them were nearly half asleep (Stephen insisted Daniel and Hosuh stay awake while he drove, because them being allowed to sleep was “not fair,” but they stayed in the backseat together, anyway) and the car, low on gas.

“Stephen, pull off at the next exit, we need gas,” Daniel said.

“And caffeine,” Hosuh added, trying to rub the exhaustion from his eyes.

“Sure,” Stephen agreed, “next one’s in about a mile.”

With a hum of acknowledgment from Dan, it was quiet again, the only noise being the sound of the highway passing by underneath the car tires. The whirring of the tires-- even with the drive to the gas station being a little over a minute long-- was enough to lull Hosuh to sleep, and get Daniel very near to it. Stephen would be lying if he said that his eyes hadn’t been drooping as well.

“We’re here,” Stephen said, waking Daniel as he pulled into one of the parking spaces. “I have to piss, we can get gas after.”

“Yeah, okay,” Daniel agreed, “I’m gonna grab some snacks and stuff.” He then turned to look over at Hosuh, who was still sleeping lightly. “We can just leave him here for now, just make sure the doors are locked.”

“M’kay.” The two got out of their car and-- making sure the car doors got locked-- made their way into the gas station.

Stephen made a b-line for the bathrooms while Daniel wandered to the back where the drinks and candies were kept. After a few moments, Stephen had finished and joined Daniel, picking out some things for themselves.

\--------

Back in the car, the silence had awoken Hosuh. He took a minute, looking around and figuring out slowly that first, Daniel and Stephen were missing, and second, that the car had been parked at a gas station. He grabbed his phone from the glove compartment, unlocked the doors for himself, and let himself into the gas station to use the bathroom.

\--------

Daniel and Stephen had grabbed an assortment of candies, some chips, and a couple different bottled coffees (as well as caffeinated tea for Hosuh, who didn’t drink coffee) before bringing them up to the cashier.

The cashier gave them a skeptical look— who knew how shady they looked, half asleep, in their pajamas, coming here at four in the morning— and rang up their items without saying much. The two payed for the items before heading back to the car.

Daniel offered to take a shift while Stephen got into the passenger's seat, opened up some of the coffee, and they headed off. Neither one of them could quite shake the feeling they’d forgotten something.

After a few miles of driving the first issue had become pretty clear. The car began to slow and sputter, so Daniel pulled off to the shoulder. They both realized that neither one of them had remembered to actually get gas.

“Well, crap what are we gonna do?”

The second thing that had been forgotten had become obvious when they’d gotten the phone call.

“Hang on. Hosuh’s calling me?” Daniel turned to look in the backseat, and found nothing but the blankets they’d set up earlier in the trip.

“Stephen! We forgot Hosuh!”

\--------

When Hosuh had left the bathroom, he went into one of the aisles, grabbed a bag of jolly ranchers and a bottle of Pure Leaf, and payed for them at the counter. He earned the same skeptical look that Daniel and Stephen had, but made no comment on it.

Purchases in hand, he went out into the parking lot, seeing Daniel and Stephen nowhere in sight and the car missing.

Pure panic would be the best way to describe his initial reaction.

“They left me.” Another second passed, him standing, unbelieving of it himself, before he pulled out his phone and hurriedly put in Daniel’s phone number.

\--------

“I’m so sorry Hosuh,” Daniel apologized again, having put the call on speaker phone for both him and Stephen “we thought you were still asleep in the back!”

“It’s okay, Dan, really,” Hosuh’s voice came through the other line, “it’s fine, I’ll just wait here while you come back.”

“About that…” Stephen trailed off.

“What? What is it, what’s wrong?”

“Y’see,” Stephen continued, “we kinda forgot to get gas…”

“What do you mean?”

Daniel chimes in this time. “The car’s totally empty, we’re stranded on the side of the highway.”

“Oh, no. What are you going to do?” He asked.

“I don’t know, man,” Daniel replied, running his fingers through his hair, trying to calm himself. “Are you okay there by yourself?”

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine-- there’s no one here but the cashier.” The line crackled for a second, then was clear again. “Wait no,” he said, “someone’s pulling in; I’m gonna see if they can help.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea Hosuh?” Stephen asked, “that person could be dangerous.”

“I’ll just stay on the line,” he assured. Over the phone the faint sound of a car engine stopping could be heard. Then Hosuh’s voice and the deeper voice of a stranger; it was hard to make out what they were saying-- he must have lowered the phone to his side-- but Daniel and Stephen got the jist of it.

“Okay guys,” Hosuh said, clear again on the phone, “This is Brian, he said he can help us out. He’s gonna give me a ride over to you guys and he’s got a gas can he’s going to let us fill the car with. He says it should be enough to get us to some motel place.”

“Oh, gosh,” Daniel breathed, relieved by the news, “thank you so much sir, you have no idea how much this means to us!”

“Yeah,” Stephen added, “thanks.”

The deeper voice-- Brian-- could be heard again on the line, “it’s no problem boys, how far out did you get?”

“Only a few miles,” Daniel informed.

“All right, then. I’ll fill up my pickup and the gas can, and we’ll be there for ya in a few minutes.”

Another round of thanks, and Hosuh told them he’d see them in a bit, and hung up. 

“How lucky was that,” Daniel said.

“Yeah, pretty lucky. I’m still worried though, I wish Hosuh would have stayed on the line,” Stephen replied.

“Me too, but he seems to have it figured out. If he needs help he’ll just call us, right?”

“I guess so.”

“Here,” Daniel said, offering Stephen some of the candy, “all we can really do now is wait.”

Stephen took some and popped it in his mouth, Daniel following suit, “yeah, you’re right.”

\--------

The drive with Hosuh and Brian had been quiet after the profuse thanks had been established. He’d even offered to pay for the gas, and asked what he could do to repay the kind stranger. Brian had merely said that he was happy to help, and that karma would pay him back later.

As Brian had said, they’d only driven a few minutes before they saw the car on the shoulder of the highway. Brian slowed and pulled off, catching the attention of Daniel and Stephen. They both got out of the car and, when Hosuh had gotten out of Brian’s truck, immediately both ran to hug him.

“Hosuh!”

“We’re sorry we left you!”

Brian watched on them fondly, grabbing the gas can from the back of his vehicle. Hosuh hugged them both back, laughing. “Guys it’s okay, it was an accident.”

When they finally broke apart, Daniel went to help Brian fill the car, while Stephen made sure that Hosuh was indeed okay.

“Yeah, yeah I’m fine. If you think about it, it’s kinda good you left me, otherwise we’d all be stranded here,” Hosuh said.

“I was worried,” Stephen defended. “We got lucky that Brian is just a nice guy.”

Their conversation, though, was interrupted by Brian himself. “There you go boys, got some gas in ‘er. It’s about enough to get to Motel 8. You just follow this road down about thirty-five miles and then exit off. From there ya can’t miss it.”

They thanked him for the vague directions, typed the address in their gps, and bid each other farewell as they both went their separate ways.

\--------

Motel 8 was not an ideal stop off. The place was rather sketchy and unprofessional. But with it nearing four forty-five the three were tired again (the adrenaline from their panic subsiding and all three of them just generally missing being in a bed) and the fact that their gas was dangerously low again, they had to settle for the little overnight hotel.

Upon entering the woman at the front desk was not a very pleasant person. She gave a snide remark about their appearance-- with having been trapped driving for nearly thirteen hours now and the night (morning, rather) they’d been having, it was understandable-- and another at them going to only be taking one room.

On the way to the room they noticed two members of the cleaning staff making out in one of the open rooms, and passed by one other who was smoking in a room.

The room that they had to stay in was small, with one bed, a bathroom, and a little table and a chair; it wasn’t a great set up. The ceiling of the bathroom was slightly molded over and the three were too afraid to check how the inside of the toilet was holding up.

Decidedly, the three climbed into the bed together, and made the most of the situation sleeping there in the dingy room. When morning would come, they’d grab breakfast at a local diner where they’d get directions to the nearest gas station, and then continue on their way to Utah. But for now, they were sleeping on the Motel 8’s small bed, getting some much needed and well-deserved rest.


	6. Sleep Deprived

It had been very long night-- well morning, rather-- it seemed, as the numbers on the digital clock to Hosuh’s left had crept back to the single digits some hours ago. He had been working since early that morning; they were behind on a video and he had really hoped he’d be able to catch up on it.

Hosuh had kept it relatively dark in his room-- it would be harder to get distracted when the only light source was the laptop and drawing tablet-- and had been hunched over the desktop, drinking Red Bull, and trying to fight off the inevitable crash.

He just needed a few more hours, he was sure of it. He went to rubbing at his drooping eyes, trying to get the fuzzy shadows in his peripheral to go away; just a few more hours-- it’d be all right. Hosuh knew his sleeping schedule had always been odd, but it wasn’t until he found himself back in the kitchen, making himself coffee (he didn’t even like coffee, he was just so adamant on staying up it didn’t seem to be important) that he may need to sleep a little more after this. As if his shaking hands or the way the drawings occasionally seemed to swarm together hadn’t been any indication.

He brought the coffee back to his room, eyeing the near-empty can of Red Bull and, without really thinking, poured the rest of it into his coffee. It fizzed over, a bit of it spilling out of the mug as he cussed quietly to himself and rushed back to the kitchen to bring back napkins and clean the mess. 

Once he had gotten the spill cleaned up he sat himself back down at the desk, wincing in disgust through every sip of this Red Bull-coffee concoction. Disgusting was really too kind a word for it, and he was only able to get through about half of it. At that point, Hosuh was so exhausted that he wasn’t even drawing anymore. The lines kept blurring, his back hurt, his arm was sore, and he was definitely getting a headache. The most he could manage was staring at the screen, stylus in hand, stressing about the work that he was not getting done. 

Hosuh wasn’t sure exactly how long he’d been sitting there, straining his eyes, trying to force the lines to make sense to his fuzzy mind. But it must have been a while because the sun had begun to spill into the dark room. 6:04. If this drawing gets done, Hosuh reasoned, then he could justify going to bed.

Gagging on another sip of his drink, Hosuh put the stylus to work, slowly and monotonously he continued trying to draw only to undo the distressed scribbles and repeat the process. He drank small sips of the nasty Red Bull-coffee almost as a punishment when he had to undo more major parts of the drawing. He was able to keep up the frustrating pace-- getting little done-- for only about fifteen minutes before he went back to staring at the screen and feeling stressed, trying to keep himself from letting his slow blinking to become micro-naps.

He managed to keep his eyes shut for a good while before he was startled awake again by Stephen’s alarm clock from the next room, set to wake his friend for work. 6:30. The sun was a bit brighter now, and it definitely didn’t do anything to help the headache. The sound of his door opening didn’t even register until Hosuh saw Stephen cautiously poking his head in, looking concerned.

“What are you doing up this early? And why do I smell coffee?”

Housh, too sleep-deprived to say much of anything let his eyes film with tears and let out a pitiful whine.

“Oh, uh are you okay, man?” Stephen shifted awkwardly on his feet, before coming over to where Hosuh sat at the desktop. Stephen crouched down to the be eye-level with his friend, noticing the dark bags under his eyes, the way his hands shook, the vacant expression, and the fact that he looked extremely pale in the lighting.

“What is that?” Stephen asked, eyeing the empty can of Red Bull and the off-colored fizzing coffee. Hosuh merely put his head on Stephen’s shoulder and let the film of tears begin to fall, dampening Stephen’s shirt. “Okay,” He said, wrapping his arms around Hosuh, “all right, I think you need to go to bed.” Stephen felt Hosuh nod on his shoulder.

Stephen let go of the other and reached over to hit save on the laptop before he closed it. He then guided Hosuh up from the chair and into bed. 

“Just go to sleep, you need it,” and before Hosuh could protest, Stephen added, “you can finish that later, it’s fine. Dan and I get it.” Hosuh responded with a yawn and tired thanks that drifted off as he fell asleep almost instantly.

Stephen went to taking the mug out of the room, along with the empty can. Tossing them in the sink and trash respectively as he answered Daniel’s (who had been watching quietly from just outside the door since Stephen’s alarm had woken him up as well) questioning look.

“He should okay,” Stephen said, “he’s just really tired and stressed probably.” Daniel nodded, understanding.

“Is he asleep then?”

“Yeah.”

“All right,” Daniel stifled a bit of a yawn, “I think I'm gonna go back to bed and sleep for another hour or so, too. Have a good time at work.”

“As if,” Stephen scoffed, “when you do get up again do me a favor? Just make sure he stays asleep, okay? He was so out of it, he really does need to take it easy-- for today at least.”

“Okay, weird to see you caring about people, Stephen” he teased.

“Oh shut up and go back to sleep,” Stephen countered, “I’ll see you after work.”

“Yeah, see you later.”

Stephen watched Daniel shuffle back into his own room, and shot one more worried glance at Hosuh’s before he went and got himself ready for the day.


	7. Domestic Things

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just needed some soft fluffy domestic things, hope you enjoy

It was just one of those days-- Daniel wouldn't get out of his pajamas, Stephen refused to put on a pair of pants, and the two were lying lazily on the couch waiting for Hosuh to get out of the shower so they could all do something together.

“All right, he’s taking forever,” Stephen said, getting up from the couch and heading over to the bathroom, “I’m gonna tell him to get out.” 

“Just don’t be a dick,” Daniel warned but made no move to stop him.

Stephen let himself into the bathroom, feeling the wave of warm steam hit him immediately. “Hosuuuuuuuuhhhhh,” he whined, closing the toilet lid and taking a seat. “Come on, man, hurry up already.”

“My hair is longer, it takes more time to wash,” Hosuh returned simply, it wasn’t the first time Stephen had intruded complaining about how much longer it took him to shower.

“Not an excuse,” Stephen said and promptly flushed the handle of the toilet, eliciting a shout from Hosuh.

“STEPHEN!” He drew back the shower curtain some to give a playful glare at him. 

“Hey,” Stephen returned feigning innocence. He didn’t even register the washcloth being thrown at him until it hit him in the face.

“OUT!”

And so a giggling Stephen was sent slinking back over to Daniel, suds on his face and a sort of amused guilt written all over it. Daniel merely gave an unimpressed look, but let Stephen come sprawl himself over the remainder of their couch again, anyway.

It was only about another ten minutes before Hosuh had let himself out of the bathroom, wearing a large t-shirt and soft pair of pajama pants. He had left his wet hair down to air dry.

“Come,” Daniel said, reaching his arms out toward Hosuh, “let me braid it.” 

“You know how?” Stephen asked, seeming surprised.

“Yeah, Ann was teaching me a little the other day since she wanted me to help her do her hair,” he answered, “now come here,” he directed his attention back to Hosuh, “I want to braid your hair.”

“Okay, okay,” Hosuh laughed. He sat himself down on the floor right in front of Daniel, leaning back against the couch in between Daniel’s legs to let him reach better. The three exchanged light-hearted banter, going back and forth on what they would be doing with the remainder of the day, as Daniel pulled Hosuh’s hair up into a tight french braid. They tried convincing Stephen to finally put some pants on at one point, but it was to no avail (“Stephen seriously--” ”You can’t make me.”). 

Once Daniel had finished-- and done a surprisingly good job, at that-- he took the hair tie Hosuh normally kept around his wrist and tied the braid off before making room on the couch for him. The three lied there together for a while mostly peaceful save for the fact that Daniel kept reaching his leg across Hosuh to poke Stephen’s leg with his foot.

“Daniel, I swear to God--”

“This wouldn’t be a problem if you were wearing pants.” Another poke.

“Dan! Stop it, your feet are cold!”

“Yeah, they are,” but he didn’t let up, and Stephen had taken to hitting Daniel back with his own leg all the while Hosuh was just trying not to get hit, being in between the two. Their war only raged a few minutes, however, before Daniel suggested they settle it like men-- with Mario Kart.

Stephen put the disk in and grabbed controllers for the three of them, choosing rainbow road once they got settled just to annoy them. Daniel and Stephen stayed neck-in-neck for first for a majority of the race, Hosuh in a steady second right up until the end when he used a blue shell, knocking both Daniel and Stephen off the track. The amount of screaming was impressive. And each round of racing after that got more physical: Stephen tried to smack the controller out of Hosuh’s hand, Daniel attempted to cover Stephen’s eyes with his leg, at one point Housh had gotten up and stood directly in front of the screen. 

They ended up playing for a few hours (surprisingly not tearing each other apart in the process) before they were about at their wits' end with the game and the “--stupid turtle shells, Dan!” And it was around that time Stephen suggested they get some food.

Hosuh’s immediate response: “we should cook together,” earned a laugh from the others. “What?” He asked defensively, “I like cooking with you guys.” Another laugh and Daniel and Stephen were soon getting up to head over to the kitchen with Hosuh.

They decided to make something simple for their idle day-- tacos. Hosuh had gone to cooking the chicken while-- albeit reluctantly-- they let Stephen use a knife to cut vegetables and Daniel put some oil in a pan to heat the tortillas. It was only a few moments before the kitchen was filled with the smell of food and the sounds of cooking, cutting, and random what-if scenarios prompted by Daniel. 

“What if the Earth was twice its size?” He asked, putting the tortilla on a plate and setting a new one in the pan.

“Well,” Stephen said, “There’d be a lot more space-- more room to hide bodies after a murder.” Laughter rang out in the kitchen.

“Why? Of all the things you could have said, just-- Hosuh do you have a normal answer?”

“Wouldn’t we all be crushed?” He replied and Stephen laughed a bit. “No, no I mean, the gravity of the Earth would double too, wouldn’t it? So our bodies-- we wouldn’t be able to handle that force.”

Stephen tossed some of the chopped lettuce in a bowl to make more room on the cutting board before he hummed in thought. “Yeah you’re right, all our bones would just snap. So would a new species take humans’ place, then?”

“Ohhh, like one that can handle the pressure of the doubled gravity,” Daniel chimed in, “that does make sense.”

“So probably more heavy-set creatures would live,” Hosuh added some of the seasoning into the chicken. “Or creatures with strong bones.”

“Actually,” Daniel cut in, “would they live? They might be able to stand the force, but their food source would be totally wiped out-- anything they might have hunted would be crushed by the gravity.”

“It’s a free meal,” Stephen said chuckling, “just think about it, they wouldn’t have to go hunt for their food, it’d all be laying around for them.”

“What about when those go bad?”

“Stop poking holes in my logic!” Stephen gave a playfully indignant huff.

“Well your logic doesn’t make any sense,” Daniel countered, “sure it’d be nice at first, but all the animal bodies would rot and be gross after a time, then what?”

“Animals adapt?” Hosuh suggested, “they would have to start eating each other, or only eat plants.”

“Wouldn’t plants be crushed too?” Daniel asked.

Hosuh hummed in thought, cutting a larger piece of chicken down the middle to make sure they were done. “Some might survive, maybe trees or other really tough ones.” He put the chicken onto its own cutting board and began to cut it up into small pieces.

“But how many heavy-set vegetarian animals climb trees to get their food?” Daniel asked, making Stephen laugh.

“Just imagine a hippopotamus climbing a tree for food,” he said, making the other two laugh as well.

“What is it with you and hippos?” Daniel asked. They began to bring their food over to the table, continuing their conversation as they ate.

“Most dangerous animal, Dan,” Stephen replied between bites. The three discussed the matter to death over their lunch, talking about how the moon would start to orbit closer and Earth may be pulled out of its orbit, making everything on the planet die anyway, and only gave that a rest when Daniel brought up a new scenario in response to Stephen’s morbid prediction of the event. And it’s how a majority of the rest of their day went, talking about pointless things and coming up with stupid answers. Doing so pantsless, with braided hair, and in pajamas.


	8. Nightmare

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a bit of a warning, there's a nightmare scene (woah what a surprise) and it does have some blood n stuff, but it's nothing graphic

It was dark and colorless. Like someone had sucked reflective light out of the world-- out of Stephen’s room-- which he stood in the center of. Something was wrong; something was off. Was it him or the room? 

He felt drawn to the door. Without even thinking, he was opening his door, and it lead straight into the kitchen-- it didn’t normally do that, but Stephen didn’t think anything of it. The unyielding sense of wrongness didn’t falter as he walked further into the kitchen. Standing out against the colorless world, there was red on and dripping from the refrigerator. 

Looking over at the oven clock, it seemed to be broken, the numbers looking strange and unreadable, but glaring in bright red anyway. Weren’t the numbers on the oven clock green usually? He grasped the handle and opened the refrigerator. 

Red. So much red. And a body, too-- Daniel’s body, that is. And there was screaming, not just from him, but from his dead friend in the fridge too. The body started falling forward, and Stephen tried backing away, but he tripped over something-- the body of his other friend. Hosuh wasn’t there before, right? Stephen felt like it took an eternity for him to fall to the floor-- almost like life was in slow-motion.

The colorless world became red as Stephen fell through the floor-- hurtling down into the red oblivion, screaming the whole way. He landed after a time, not on the floor, he was on a pile of something. Something fleshy. 

It was arms. 

They held him down-- he shouted for help and tried to get away, but they grabbed onto his face, his hair-- they used his open mouth to grab onto his jaw and drag him down. He screamed and thrashed, crying out for help. There were eyes, glaring down at him-- he could see from the few small gaps of the surface he still had as they judged him. One more pleading scream, and he woke up.

Stephen sat bolt-upright, the remnants of his dream still playing out in his mind as he screamed for Daniel and Hosuh. He couldn’t really remember all of it-- the color red and the feeling of being dragged down were still fresh and prominent, but if the tears running down his face were any indication, he had remembered how the dream felt. He called again for the other two, fear gripping his chest for the few seconds that he was greeted with silence before they came rushing in.

“Stephen!” Daniel said as soon as he and Hosuh came in. They took in the sight of their crying, shaking friend before sitting on the bed with him.

“Stephen, what’s the matter?” Hosuh asked worriedly, but he got no reply from the other man. Stephen’s breaths were drawn in desperately as he wrapped his arms around himself, his body still shaking now with the force of his sobs. Daniel and Hosuh looked at one another for a moment, both unsure of what to do, before Hosuh (being slow and cautious so as not to scare Stephen further) pulled his friend into a hug.

Stephen latched onto Hosuh immediately, clinging to him like he was a lifeline and crying out onto his shoulder. Daniel followed suit, joining the two’s hug to support Stephen from the other side. They let him cry as they both quietly tried to soothe him the best they could-- Stephen’s voice growing hoarse. None of them said anything for a long while, the only sounds in the room being from Stephen and the occasional car that passed by even at the ungodly hour. 

Once Stephen had begun to quiet some Daniel spoke up softly, asking Stephen what happened.

“It…” Stephen started, suddenly feeling embarrassed as he lifted his head from Hosuh’s shoulder and loosened his grip some. He rubbed at his eyes with the heel of his shaky hand, grateful when Hosuh brought the sleeve of his fluffy hoodie to wipe away the tears for him. “It was just a dream…”

“Do you want to talk about it?” Daniel prompted. Stephen shook his head.

“I don’t really wanna think about it anymore.”

“That’s fine,” Daniel said, “just tell us what you need.”

“Can you…” Stephen began, feeling self-conscious again, “can you guys just stay?”

“Of course we'll stay,” Hosuh said, Daniel, agreeing.

“Yeah, let me grab some extra pillows-- we can all sleep in here,” Daniel said to Stephen’s relief. He felt a little silly asking the two of them to stay with him, but he was grateful that they were willing to do so, and with no judgment in their actions.

Letting go of Stephen, Daniel left the room for a moment before coming back with a few pillows for the three of them, a water bottle, and tissues. Daniel handed the water and tissues to Stephen, who gladly accepted them, cleaning his teary face and taking slow, steady sips from the water. They laid the pillows out behind them and got under the covers together-- it was a tight fit on the bed, but the three of them made do, not minding much as they got comfortable.

“You guys ever heard the two-car collision dilemma before?” Daniel asked once they’d all gotten settled.

“No,” Stephen responded with a sniff.

“Let’s hear it.”

“So,” Daniel began, “you’re involved in a two-car collision where you hit and kill a pedestrian. You know it was you, but the woman that was driving the other car is sure she hit and killed the pedestrian. Whoever is deemed responsible will go to jail. What do you do? Do you own up to it and face the consequences, or do you let the innocent woman pay for your crime?”

“Wouldn’t other people know it was you?” Stephen asked.

“No-- no, it’s just you the woman and the pedestrian. There’s no other witnesses.”

“Oh, no other witnesses?” Stephen confirmed.

“Yeah.”

“Well then, no, I wouldn’t confess to killing the pedestrian. The woman already thinks she did it-- the only person that would know is me.”

“And you’re okay with that?” Hosuh asked, laughing a bit, earning an unaffected shrug from Stephen and a faint ‘sure.’ “I don’t know if I could live with that,” Hosuh admitted, “the guilt of knowing that you let some innocent person take the fall for something that she didn’t do-- I don’t think I could do it.”

“But could you survive prison?” Daniel asked.

“What is this, a new video idea? By the way, can you survive prison?” Stephen joked.

“It’s not too bad, actually,” Daniel said. “Maybe if we start running low on ideas we could do something with it, rather than making another eight-minute video of us dicking around.”

“Isn’t that video from like two years ago, though?” Hosuh asked. “I have a feeling we’re not gonna be low on ideas for a while.”

“You never know, man,” Daniel replied, “it’s good to keep an open mind.”

“That is true,” Hosuh said.

Noting that Stephen had gotten quiet, the two looked over at him, finding that he had fallen back asleep at some point and looked much more peaceful than before-- the nightmare seemingly having all but been forgotten. 

“Oh, did we bore you?” Daniel quietly teased his sleeping friend.

Hosuh let out a hushed laugh. “I’m just glad he was able to fall asleep again.”

“Yeah, me too-- we should probably get back to sleep too.”

“Good idea,” Hosuh replied, stifling the beginning of a yawn, “Night, Dan.”

“Good night.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I swear this thing isn't abandoned, I'm just working on something a bit bigger at the moment


End file.
